Real Madrid clinched top spot in Group B with win in Milan

Real Madrid remained perfect in Group B after escaping from a sold-out Mediolanum Forum with a 71-78 win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Madrid clinched first place in the group after improving to 8-0, while EA7 Milan dropped to 4-4 and will play next week a crucial game at home against Brose Baskets Bamberg. Real Madrid used 5 three pointers, two apiece from Jaycee Carroll and Sergio Rodriguez, to highlight a 19-4 run to break the balance in the second quarter and take a 23-42 lead. Rudy Fernandez paced the winners with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Sergio Rodriguez added 10 points and Salah Mejri scored 10 with 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Alessandro Gentile tallied 14 points for Emporio Armani, while CJ Wallace and Gani Lawal netted 10 each.

First quarter: Despite Madrid’s strong shooting, Milan keeps close

Curtis Jerrells opened fire from downtown before Rudy scored for the visitors. After a short jumper by Gentile, back-to-back three-pointers by Tremmel Darden put Madrid in front 5-9. Wallace tied the game at 9-9 by knocking down a three in transition. Jerrells beats the 24-second buzzer for an 11-9 advantage. Nikola Mirotic tied the game from the corner. A free throw from Fernandez and a steal with easy layup from Sergio Llull made it 11-15 for the visitors. David Chiotti scored in the paint, before Mirotic and Langford posted free throws. Then Rodriguez with a rainbow shot gave the largest margin, 14-21, to the guests. Llull’s mid-range jumper and a bank shot from downtown by Nicolo Melli over the buzzer fixed the score at 19-23 at the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter: Carroll, Rodriguez fuel 2-14 Madrid run

Rodriguez made a jumper against Milan’s zone defense. Chiotti answered with a jump hook, but Carroll, Rudy and Carroll again from long distance enlarged the margin to 21-34. Rodriguez capped a 2-14 run with another rocket from downtown to make it 21-27. Gentile ended Milan’s drought, but missed the additional free throw, and immediately Marcus Slaughter converted a huge alley-oop dunk before Rodriguez added another three for a 23-42 lead with four minutes left. Melli ignited his team and the crowd with a huge two-handed dunk and Keith Langford scored a pair from the foul line, but Mirotic showed all his versatility by scoring in the paint, 27-44. Gentile, Carroll and Wallace scored free throws. Jerrells hit two consecutive layups and Rudy finished with an easy basket for a 34-48 halftime score.

Third quarter: Mejri steps up to keep Los Blancos in control

Melli drained a baby-hook to open the third quarter. Salah Mejri answered in the paint with the same shot. Gani Lawal scored a layup and after a dunk from Mejri, his slam made it 40-54. The Tunisian big man was uncontested and scored again in the paint twice for an 18-point advantage for Madrid. Langford kept Emporio Armani in chase from the foul line before Llull dished a no-look pass to Mejri for easy points. Gentile’s steal and dunk and Chiotti’s layup pushed the home team within 46-60. Rudy rejected EA7 with a triple for a 46-63 lead.

A Gentile three-pointer closed the gap to 50-63, however Rudy completed a three-point-play. Chiotti scored again close to the basket, which was copied few seconds later by Felipe Reyes, 52-68. A short jumper by Jerrells then a three-point-play by Lawal made it 57-70. Reyes made another jumper, then Lawal’s put back and Gentile’s penetration kept the hosts alive on 61-72. Mirotic posted free throws. Wallace stole a ball to score easily, but Dontaye Draper, assisted by Llull, and Reyes from the foul line maintained safe margin for the visitors. Wallace and David Moss scored back-to-back triples to finish the game at 71-78.

Head Coaches

BANCHI, LUCA

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan

"I think is very important first of all to give tribute to our fans and the city for their answer to this event. I think the value of our opponents deserved an arena like tonight, but I hope my team will earn respect and support of a such a big crowd in the future. Real Madrid is a great game, with a very deep roster and great organization, and all the time they are in trouble, they are able to go immediately on a huge run. Tonight in the second quarter they made an amazing run with a great shooting performance, but we did not give up and tried to be more aggressive in the second half to stay in the game. I think this was important to build our team and our mentality. It's very difficult to play against a team who is the best offense and the best defense of the competition. But I'm happy because we fought till the final buzzer, I'm proud of my team and we start from this game looking ahead to the next game that will be crucial to advance to the Top 16."

LASO, PABLO

Real Madrid

"First of all I think we watched a great basketball game tonight, in a sold-out arena, and it was very important that my team understood that we needed to play a great game. It was important to win to be sure to finish first and we got it with a consistent team, and this makes me very happy for the victory. I think in the first half we worked well on defense, we knew it was the key for running, and we got a good advantage that allowed us to get the win. Milan never gave up, but we managed the game, and I'm very happy to have taken the victory in this arena."

Players

GENTILE, ALESSANDRO

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan

"It was a very tough game for us against the best team in Europe, in this moment, but we fought for all 40 minutes, and never gave up. I think we played together till the end and this is very important, but we have many aspects of our game to improve on both sides of the court, to find the best chemistry, but also we have to look ahead and think about the next game that will be decisive to advance to the Top 16."

REYES, FELIPE

Real Madrid

"'It was another great night for our amazing start of the season! We're happy to stay unbeaten and to get the first place in the regular season group. It was great to play in the arena that will host the Final Four, full of fans, also attracted by our team. I think we played a great first half on both sides of the court, and then controlled the game."